Bad things, Good Reasons
by MadMooMe
Summary: The gang are hauled up in the abandoned school. Bass and Charlie have been fighting Patriots, Miles is unconscious and Aaron has just unleashed Hell on the bad guys. Where do they go from there? Hopefully there is something here to keep everyone happy.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own any of the characters in Revolution. This is all just for fun.**

Aaron Pittman knelt down beside his Cynthia, gently moving strands of hair out of her eyes. Eyes that would never look upon the world again. His actions were peaceful but that was because his body was on autopilot.

The inside of his head told a different story.

There, his mind burned with rage. A fire so fierce it rivalled the charred bodies that adorned the dark school corridors. A mass of vengeful thoughts smashed together until the mild-mannered computer geek's eyes turned black and the gathering storm within him became so intense it was almost palpable.

The moment Cynthia fell from the bullet changed him. The subsequent death toll Aaron ordered was evidence that he belonged with the other mass murderers he had chosen to keep company with these past months.

He was angry and that anger wasn't limited to the patriots. His head was looking for everyone he could possibly blame for placing him there, at the side of a woman who declared her love moments before she was gunned down.

The Monroe Republic and the nano technology. These things had directly and indirectly brought Aaron to this point in time. To him being pursued in an abandoned school and to him kneeling by the body of a woman he loved.

Ben and Danny's death, the pendant's, the pursuit of power, the nanites and the tower. What did they all have in common? Monroe, Miles and Rachel. They'd been responsible for so much death over the years between ending the old world and trying to create a new one.

The fact was that in Aaron's eyes, it wasn't just the patriots who were the bad guys. They all were and they would ALL pay.

Aaron stood up and walked towards the outside, leaving Cynthia alone. The nanites had left him in his hour of need and he was going to have to find a way to get them back if he wanted to exact this revenge.

* * *

Rachel's forehead was pressed against the chest of an unconscious Miles. Her fists balled up in the fabric of his shirt. She felt as though she'd been praying and begging for him to wake up for an eternity. Sheer panic had emptied her head of all thoughts. Rachel had no clue what to do.

"Please Miles!" she begged again

"Don't leave me!"

Rachel could feel a heartbeat as she pressed herself against him but for how long would it stay beating she didn't know. So immersed in her situation, Rachel hadn't noticed the sudden lack of soldiers and guns that earlier where forcing their way into the room. Silence now filled the school and all she could hear were her own cries.

"Mom?"

The sound of Charlie's voice seemed a million miles a way but Rachel heard it and slowly turned to see her daughter stood in the doorway, Bass by her side.

"Is that…..Miles!, oh my God!" Charlie said rushing into the room when realising it was her Uncle that Rachel was lent over.

Rachel watched Bass approach too, his expression suggested he wasn't as surprised at his best friends condition as Charlie had been.

"He has a fever!" Charlie announced anxiously feeling the heat coming off Miles' forehead

"What's wrong with him?" she asked looking to her mother for answers.

"Infection from his hand, blood poisoning or so it looked like" Bass rushed in with the answer. Both women turned to look at him but Charlie beat her mother to an angry response.

"You knew about this and didn't think to say anything?"

"Hey, I haven't known very long, and you know Miles, he wouldn't let me tell you" he answered back, that familiar steely look in his eyes. The one showing his dislike at being challenged.

He moved over to Miles

"Come on, we need to get him away from here, they'll be more patriots here in no time" Bass said leaning down to pull Miles to his feet. Rachel lifted from the other side refusing to separate herself from Miles' side.

Charlie tentatively led the way, rifle positioned high, her steps silent across the floor. She was a good few feet ahead checking around corners before declaring the way forward safe.

Bass caught himself staring at the pint-sized warrior who led the way. She was young but had some skills, clearly a quick study of her uncle and hell, he loved that view of her, the way those hips moved and the strength in her arms.

He allowed a little fantasy to play out in his head for a few moments. The thoughts having no more weight behind them than ones he had about most attractive women he met. Those thoughts ended abruptly when he felt the dead weight of his best friend pull on him bringing his mind back to more pressing matters.

The sudden jerks and physical movements seem to bring Miles round for a moment.

"Hey Princess" he croaked and brought Rachel to a standstill, her heart leaping at the sound of his voice but when she looked at him she saw that his eyes were unfocused.

"You wanna go down to the beach tonight, and dance in the sand", Miles muttered.

Rachel nodded sadly realising that he was confused to where he was, choosing instead to pick up on a private moment from their past. The fever was messing with his mind.

The trio continued moving on but Rachel could feel Bass' stare burning into her. She knew without looking that Monroe would be intrigued by Miles' sudden outburst.

_The beach had been a secret, a particularly special night she had spent with Miles a lifetime ago. The warm summer breeze, the sound of the ocean, the stars above, a fairytale moment where even now she could still feel his strong arms wrapped around her and the way his breath tickled across her neck. But as with all their memories, there was the underlying guilt over what they were doing to Ben. That's why it was a secret, telling someone else just seemed to be disrespecting his brother even more_.

Miles' delirious ramblings had indeed got the cogs inside Bass' mind turning. Rachel had always been an off topic for the two best friends. Growing up back home he caught Miles looking at his brothers girlfriend on occasion and knew there was some jealousy there. But Bass had genuinely believed there was nothing else to it. How could there be?. How could anything else have happened and Miles never mention it to his best friend?

Those cogs stopped the instant he heard Charlie up ahead make a strangled cry. Bass had his hand on his sword ready to step into a fray when he suddenly saw what had made Charlie react.

There on the floor was Cynthia, sweet innocent Cynthia. He watched Charlie kneel down and confirm she was dead. A tear falling down her cheek for the woman who had just been something good in a world full of bad.

"We need to find Aaron" Charlie insisted, concerned about her friend's state of mind.

Bass shook his head to this idea. He looked around the school, slowly starting to put together what he thought had happened. The charred bodies made sense now. They were Aaron's reaction at seeing someone he cared about killed.

"No, we get Miles to safety first, we look for Aaron later" Bass ordered hoisting Miles higher on his shoulder and starting to move away down the corridor.

"No we can't leave Aaron, he's family and he needs us" Charlie insisted

"He…he could help Miles, the nanites! Maybe they could somehow heal him" Rachel added

Bass shook his head with frustration. What was it about that bespectacled loser that made him everybody's number one priority?

"You've seen what he's done to all these bodies right?" Bass began, pointing in every direction at the crispy evidence.

"You think that might have been his reaction to them killing Cynthia? You think that was the response of a man in control" he said staring at the two women

He could see a defiant look on Rachel's face, she believed that Aaron could help Miles and she wasn't going to let it drop. The little patience he had was disappearing fast so he made himself very clear.

"You want to set Aaron loose on Miles? Really?. The guy who clearly has no handle on his emotions. God Rachel, do you really want to risk Miles being cooked from the inside?".

He watched Rachel pale at his words. The message had finally got through to her. He motioned over to Charlie who looked on at poor Cynthia one last time.

"We get Miles to safety, then we can think about finding Aaron" he said in a much more calm manner.

The two women nodded solemnly accepting the plan and together they headed out of the school and into the woods where the sun was fading fast.


	2. Chapter 2

They were not far enough from the school for Bass' liking but he just couldn't carry Miles much further. Rachel struggled under his weight but refused to swap with Charlie, leaving him to manage the brunt of his best friends mass. What didn't help matters was the sun had set, leaving only moonlight to help them navigate through the thick tree roots and uneven ground.

Charlie still led the way ahead, occasionally making them all stop and take cover while she darted off to check something she'd heard in the woods. Bass' heart stopped every time she disappeared from sight and he told himself it was purely because he didn't have the energy to go and save her.

After one of her little disappearing acts, Charlie returned telling them about a couple of old train-cars ahead. It would be as good a place as any to rest and take stock before moving on. Bass quickened his pace hauling Miles along with him to the shelter.

The three of them lifted Miles' still-unconscious body inside the corroding train-car. The sliding door had rusted half closed making it impossible to open to let in more light or to close to hide them from view.

Inside was dark and damp smelling. Rodent droppings littered the floor and a bunch of Hessian sacks sat damp and mouldy in the far corner. Charlie helped Rachel sit Miles up against the sacks while Bass collapsed feeling a lightness in his limbs from the relief at not having his 6 foot friend draped over his shoulders. .

"Ok, let's get his shirt off and see just what we are dealing with" Bass managed to say after a few moments resting.

Charlie stepped back outside checking the surrounding area while Rachel helped Bass pull the shirt over Miles chest and shoulders. Miles seem to come round again at the disruption.

"Bass, get the skateboard before Ben gets home" he said then fell unconscious again.

Another memory. But why Miles chose to remember that one was a mystery. It was far from a happy recollection.

_They couldn't have been more than 14 then. Full of mischief and not much going on in their little home town to keep them out of trouble. Ben had a new skateboard, Miles did not. He dared Bass to 'borrow it'. _

_After a fun-filled day of scrapes and bruises Miles attempted to jump a makeshift ramp, he landed badly and broke the board. Ben, who was usually a guy of patience and understanding totally lost it and went ballistic. _

_It was the first and only time Bass had witnessed the two brothers fight and he was glad it was just that once because they were brutal and bloody. All he could remember was Ben shouting repeatedly. 'Why do you always have to take all my stuff?, Why can't you just leave my things alone?'. _

Rachel took a sharp intake of breath, taking in the full extent of Miles' injury. The sound brought Bass back from his reminiscence. It was hard to see clearly in the moonlight but it was obvious that it was bad, really bad. The infection had spread the full length of his arm and was encroaching on to his shoulder.

They both sat back on their haunches. None of them had brought anything with them from the school. No supplies whatsoever. They had no light, no heat and no water. Miles lay propped up slightly against some sacks, mumbling occasionally, heat radiating from his body.

"I don't know what to do" Rachel said looking to Bass for some answers. He just stared at the floor shaking his head in defeat.

"He needs proper medication, antibiotics or something " was all Bass could say, stating the obvious.

Rachel got to her feet and Bass joined her. She looked like she had an idea but as soon as she mentioned the name 'Aaron' again Bass just wanted to put his hands round her throat and squeeze. She was so blinkered sometimes.

"He has the power, Bass, and he's our only option" she insisted, begging Monroe to consider finding the guy.

"I don't know how much clearer I can make this for you" he began, his hands out in front of him imploring Rachel to listen.

"Your bearded friend has just witnessed the one he loves unjustly taken from him. He's angry and upset and _so_ not in the right frame of mind now to be healing people".

He raked his hand through his hair taking a deep breath before continuing

"I know this Rachel, because I have been there, I have felt what he is feeling and the aftermath was not a pretty sight" the image of Shelley and the baby flashed through his head.

"The difference here is that I never had the ability to '_flame on' _like your friend. That fact makes Aaron way beyond dangerous".

As they argued, neither noticed Charlie slip back into the train-car. She held strips of material cut and ripped from her shirt and soaked in water from a stream not far from the train-car. Kneeling by her uncle she placed the cool strips across his forehead and chest in an attempt to lower his temperature.

An unwanted pang of sorrow filled Charlie's chest whilst listening to Bass' reasoning for not finding Aaron but she managed to push the feeling aside and leaned in close to her uncle.

"You don't look so good" she whispered

"And I know what you're going to say. 'It's all part of the charm' right?" Charlie forced a smile across her lips whilst moving his sweat soaked hair from his eyes.

Then panic suddenly hit her. They were going to lose him unless they did something right now. She turned to face her mom shouting loud enough to break their argument.

"We need Grandpa!"

The three of them fell silent for a moment while they considered the option of Gene Porter. They had to first hope he was still alive and if he _was_ still breathing could they find him in time.

Rachel gathered her thoughts and then started moving away from Bass and Charlie

"Whoa, what are you doing Rachel?" Bass asked taking hold of her arm stopping her from bolting out of the door

"I…I am going to get my dad, he…he doesn't have much time, I need to go now" Rachel replied glancing over at Miles.

She had that familiar air of crazy around her. Where you could see a thousand thoughts orbiting her head and how she couldn't seem to make eye contact with anyone. Bass continuing with his grip lost the little patience he had left.

"Are you completely insane? You'd last less than 10 seconds if you went back to Willoughby. I think it's safe to assume 'daddy's' influence in keeping you safe has come to an end. They know about you Rachel, they know about the nanites. You can't step back into that town".

He let go of her arm when he saw the hopeless look in her eyes. She needed to feel like she was doing something and he could appreciate that. Bass stood back for a moment, closing his eyes and sighing deeply. He was mentally preparing himself for going back in to Willoughby.

"I'll go!"

Bass turned to see Charlie on her feet walking towards him. He quickly glanced over at Rachel and the pair, for once were together in their thoughts

"NO!"

Charlie ignored her mom for a moment and focused on Bass.

"Sebastian Monroe is a dead man! Public execution as I remember" she said watching that icy stare form in his eyes at the mention of something he never wanted to think about again for the rest of his life.

"My mom gave you a chance at a new life, you go back there now and you'll be back on the wanted posters before you can say boo!"

He looked away from her for a minute and Charlie knew he was listening to her reasons.

"Let me go! I can do it! I'm fit, I'm fast and I'm smart. You've seen my skills, I've learned from the best" she begged and it made Bass smirk

"Yeah I've seen your skills. I saw how you managed to get yourself locked in a bar with a bunch of guys who drugged you, I mean that was just real smart"

Charlie kept her eyes on Bass but could feel the horrified stare Rachel was giving her. Her mom knew Bass saved her life but they'd never really gone into the details of why she needed the rescue.

She ignored his comment and bore into his eyes, unblinking and forcing all her thoughts across the distance between them. Silently shouting for him to trust her and let her go.

Bass returned her stare for what seemed like an eternity and the truth was if anyone else had been stood there with her knowledge and skills he would have thrown them through the forest if it would get them to Willoughby faster. But this wasn't someone else. This was Charlie.

She stood waiting for his answer all rigid and serious, half her midriff and lower back was on display from where she had torn strips of shirt for Miles. Her hands flexing into fists as though she would send them flying in his direction should he even think of saying no.

"Ok" he eventually and reluctantly answered.

Rachel put her hands over her face trying to come to terms with the decisions they were making. Was she really going to let her little girl do this? But who was she to stop her.

Both the men in the room had better knowledge of her daughters capabilities than she did. That was the terrible truth and Rachel knew that to be her own fault. All she could do was give them her trust.

"If you do this, then you will do everything I tell you to do" Bass informed Charlie and sat her down at the opposite end of the train-car while he went through the plan of action.

"You will go in the same way as when we arrived in Willoughby together. You will sit on that roof and you will stay there until you are 100% happy with what is going on in that town. You will have mapped out your whole plan including all your exit points before leaving that roof"

"You will not fire that rifle unless you positively have to. You are a terrible shot and it will only bring you trouble" he paused waiting for her to acknowledge her understanding, when she nodded he continued

"Now, there's a full moon which will help you find your way but remember it also helps the enemy see you better too, so keep to the shadows as much as possible"

They discussed in length the best places to search for Gene and Charlie found herself a little in awe of his command. For the first time she was able to picture how these two friends had built up an entire republic together.

"Listen if you can't find your grandpa, you need to go to the house and grab as much of the medical supplies as you can, We'll just have to make do with whatever you can get your hands on".

Charlie nodded and started to rise to her feet but Bass gripped her by the back of the neck forcing her to meet his eyes directly.

"You. Do. Not. do anything stupid. Do you understand me?" Charlie rolled her eyes at the very Miles-like comment but Bass was not playing and she watched those steely eyes fix on to her as he gripped her neck more tightly almost painfully so. Charlie shivered as she caught a glimpse of General Monroe staring back at her.

"I'm serious, you will stick to the plan and get your ass back here in record time or I'm coming in there after you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Yes, I understand" Charlie whimpered feeling the pain in her neck.

Bass released her and pulled her up to her feet. Charlie walked over to her mom a little shaken by Bass' intensity and hugged her goodbye then headed for the door

"Stop" Bass called and met her by the entrance his eyes once again drawn to her bare stomach. He pulled the shirt of his back and handed it to her.

"Put it on, the last thing you need is the moonlight reflecting off that pale skin of yours"

Charlie took it from him and felt herself blush a little, not understanding why. She wrapped the shirt around her, took one last look at Miles laying unconscious then disappeared into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Bass was right, the full moon was a help and a hindrance. She was able to see well enough to move fast through the forest, weaving through thick undergrowth, finding extra strength from somewhere. Finding that extra strength for Miles.

Her Uncle had become such an important person in her life. He called her 'kid' all the time but in truth he was the first to treat her like an adult. Miles trusted and believed in her.

He hadn't put Charlie in a bubble, refusing to let her venture into the great outside as others had done. Miles let her stand by his side, teaching her how to survive in the new world.

'_I can't stop you from doing anything' _were the words he had said to her the day she left Willoughby to travel alone. That wasn't entirely true. He would be the _only_ person who could stop her. Her Uncle had enough faith in her that he was willing to let her go out on her own and because of that Charlie would do anything for him. She would even admit that she loved him.

She was pretty sure that love went both ways. Charlie would never forget the look on his face when she arrived back into town. He had hugged her, told her he missed her but more importantly he had smiled. A genuine smile. How many people could say they got a smile out of Miles Matheson. They were known to be as rare as rocking horse crap.

That love was keeping her going. Breathless and tired she kept moving. The closer she got to Willoughby the more Patriot activity she encountered and the previously helpful illumination from the moon suddenly felt like a spotlight and slowed her progress down while she hid in the shadows just like Bass had told her to do.

By slowing her pace, Charlie felt the cool night breeze across her skin and instinctively wrapped the shirt Bass had given her tightly around her body.

It smelt of him. She had never really given much thought to how Bass Monroe smells but there was something she identified as being exclusive to him. It wasn't a bad smell. Well, some of it was bad but they all pretty much stunk by this point, but amid the dirt and sweat was something else, something that felt reassuring. It was as if wearing the shirt gave her his strength.

She remembered watching Danny as a child running around with a sheet wrapped around his neck like a cape playing at being a superhero. That's how she felt now. That shirt and the smell of him gave her confidence and she hoped some of Monroe's badass skills.

The thought of Danny sent a shiver down her spine. Her brother died at Monroe's command. What would Danny think of her teaming up with the man responsible for his death. God, everything was so complicated.

Charlie climbed the roof as planned upon reaching town and took stock of Willoughby below. The flickering torchlight set around the town created a mass of moving shadows and Charlie struggled to calculate the numbers of soldiers.

Nerves were building up inside her as she lay flat against the tiles. Time was of the utmost importance yet Bass' words stuck in her head. _'Don't make a move until you are sure of your plan_'. So she stayed, watching each area of town, looking for where Gene could be and more importantly how she was going to get in and out.

There seemed to be a buzz throughout the town. The word must be out about what had happened at the school. Charlie studied the areas of the most activity down below her but her eyes kept coming back to one place, Ken's store. Everywhere else had a reason to have that much Patriot activity around it. Truman's house, the patriots headquarters, but why Ken's store?. It was as good a place as any to start.

Charlie slid silently off the roof and slinked through the shadows eventually finding a cellar window at the back of the store. It was quieter there although she had to wait in the bushes for a good 10 minutes until it was completely clear.

The window was small and matted with mud. It looked like it hadn't been opened in a century. Charlie had to jimmy it with an old tree branch and her knife. It took some effort and she almost sliced her hand open doing it.

Slowly peering into the darkness of the cellar she let her eyes adjust to the dim interior. She could see a figure in the corner not moving. It could be Gene but she really couldn't tell from her distance.

"Grandpa?" her call was barely even a whisper but the figure on the floor moved a little.

"Charlie?" an equally quiet voice returned. The wave of relief that hit her was so overwhelming that she almost burst into tears. Her Grandpa was still alive, Thank God!

Climbing through the tight space of the window, Charlie dropped the distance to the floor.

"Come on, lets get you out of here" she whispered offering her hand to him for leverage, but Gene just groaned and barely moved.

Charlie knelt in front of him close enough that she could see he'd been worked over. It was very dark in the cellar but she could still make out the blood on the corner of his mouth and he seemed to close his eyes at every movement he made as though in great pain.

"You shouldn't be here, you need to go before they find you" he insisted but that wasn't an option for Charlie.

She could tell from the inflection of his words that Gene had given up. He knew once the patriots had done trying to get information out of him they would kill him and Gene was accepting of that fate.

"Do you want to die having Rachel think you betrayed her?" Charlie asked

Gene shook his head, of course he didn't what that. His daughter was the most important thing to him. Half of what had gone down in Willoughby was his attempt to protect his daughter over everything else.

"Well you have a choice, you can sit here and die or help your daughter. She needs you. Miles is really sick and he won't make it without help"

Gene winced as he tried to move from the floor listening to Charlie talk

"Look, I know Miles isn't your favourite person but he's important. Important to mom, important to me" she added a tear falling down her cheek at the thought of losing him.

"Ok, ok, I can try, but I'm really not sure if I'm in good enough shape to make it" he replied but Charlie only heard the first part of his answer as she pulled him up to his feet hearing him trying to swallow the pain ripping through his body.

She knew from her roof top view that there was no going out the front door. Guards surrounded the main street. They had to go out the way she got in. It wasn't going to be easy for Gene to get through the tiny window. He was a strong man, even in his advancing years he'd managed to survive in the cut-throat blackout world but even with that strength, the beating he'd taken was too much for his ageing body.

It took effort but somehow Gene managed to find the will to pull himself through the window. She was hot on his heels when Charlie heard the cellar door open. She held her breath and slowly pulled out her knife.

A soldier entered, the glow from wall torches behind him lighting the room. There was shock in his face at being presented with something other than the beaten up old man that he was expecting. Charlie used that shock to her advantage and before he had brought his rifle to his chest she had grabbed him by the neck and in one swift motion sliced her knife across it. The soldier dropped to the floor and Charlie almost fell with him at what she had just done.

Stood in stunned silence at her own actions she only moved when Gene's hurried whispers found her through the window.

They made it to the Porter house at a sprint, she had no recollection of how she got there. Her mind only being able to picture the knife slicing through skin. But what they were faced with brought her focus back. The house had been ransacked. Furniture was all over the place. Windows were broken. All the vaccines, antibiotics and other medicines were gone.

Gene stumbled into a chair. "Looks like I'm no longer needed as the town doctor" he said as Charlie lit a candle giving her more light to look around for anything useful.

Her head was down searching for left behind items when she turned round, the flame flickered in front of her Grandpa and the sight of him nearly made her drop the candle.

The man had taken more than just a beating. His face was a mess, one eye was completely closed and badly swollen, his jaw was bruised black and blue and from the way he moved she imagined the rest of his body was in a similar condition.

"Oh God" she said as she dropped in front of him, her hand hovering wanting to give some comfort but not knowing where to let it rest.

Gene shooed her away. He couldn't say he was ok, because he far from felt it. But there was nothing she could do to help him. He was still alive and could still move so they needed to get what they came for.

"There's an emergency bag under the porch, there's no meds in it but stuff that might help" Charlie ran off and came back with it a few moments later. Gene pulled himself to his feet and took the bag scouting around for other helpful items.

They could hear distant voices outside. They must have found the dead soldier, which meant they had very little time before the Patriots started headed their way.

Charlie ran up stairs, grabbed clothes from various rooms and all the candles she came across. Flying downstairs she took canteens and bottles of water, bread, tomatoes and some fruit along with two liquor bottles that she spotted on the kitchen table. The bag was heavy but they had nothing at all at the train-car. She met Gene in the hall and grabbed his hand.

"We need to go now Grandpa" she said pulling him out and away from the house.

They were out, moving away from Willoughby and back towards the woods. She had followed Bass' advice to the letter. His shirt giving her the courage when she needed it.

It was a long journey back to the carriage. Especially with the weight of the bags and the condition her Grandpa was in. She honestly didn't know if he would make it, but her thoughts didn't linger on that for long. They needed to make it for Miles.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for your lovely comments. They keep me going.**

* * *

Thin wispy clouds moved silently across the moon. It was still low in the sky which meant Charlie hadn't been gone that long. To Bass, who stood by the door of the train-car trying to see further than he's eyes allowed, it felt like an eternity.

These feelings of anxiety he was experiencing was surely because he knew that if anything happened to her, Miles and Rachel would blame him. After all he was the one who allowed her to go on the mission.

He couldn't risk getting on Miles bad side when the guy held information on finding his son. That _mus_t be why he was feeling the way he was. What other reasons could there be?

After another few minutes of staring into the forest, listening to the sounds of the wind in the trees creaking and rustling. He couldn't stand it anymore and forced himself to do something he didn't want to do. Make conversation with Rachel.

He turned and leant against rusty panelling, taking in the view of her sat by Miles' side. She was calm and seemed too deep in her own thoughts to notice him looking at her. She held Miles' good hand between the two of hers and Bass had noticed Rachel's need to have constant physical contact with him as though her touch was the only thing keeping his heart from stopping.

That earlier comment Miles had made back at the school about 'dancing in the sand' flitted back into his head. It was just the distraction he needed.

"It was strange seeing you two, thick as thieves back there in Willoughby" he said beginning his interrogation.

Rachel didn't answer, didn't even look in his direction. She knew he hadn't forgotten Miles' ramblings and was sure he was using this time to try to piece together the puzzle.

"All those years we _both_ held you captive in Philly, and now, you two seem to be best buddies"

Remaining silent, Rachel focused her energy on Miles willing him to hang on.

"How is it you've managed to forgive Miles for what he's done, but not me?"

It was a perfectly valid point. Miles was far from saint-like. While he hauled her across country looking for Ben, Rachel had witnessed how he he'd acquired his reputation. He did not suffer fools gladly, be it friend or foe. He was cold and calculating and Rachel found it increasing difficult to see the man she had fallen in love with

Bass lifted his head for a moment trying to think how she could have forgiven Miles.

"I suspect it had something to do with his reluctance to use Sergeant Strausser in his interrogation methods"

That got Rachel's attention

"Trust me, Bass. Miles' methods were a thousand times more effective than any physical treatment that disgusting excuse of a human being ever did to me" she said almost spitting out the last part with venom

She remembered just how General Matheson's tongue was even sharper than his sword. He had mastered the art of destroying people with just words.

'_If we end up finding Ben without your help Rachel, I swear I will tell him every detail of our 'ugly little fling'. I'll tell him how quick you were to jump into bed with his brother and how you did it over and over. Then I will tell your kids what their mom was doing behind 'daddy's' back'. _

He had used all their history together to break her.

' _I'll make them all hate you Rachel. And once they never want to see you again I'll conscript them into the Militia and teach them everything I know. _

He was relentless in his interrogations . The hurtful words were packaged inside the cold emotionless man Miles had become. Only one incident in all that time gave her hope that 'her' Miles was still in there.

_Miles had crouched down in front of her, as she cowered in the corner of the large, cold stateroom. That mask of indifference firmly fixed across his face. His eyes detached and remote. He studied her in silence for a few moments then lifted his hand towards her. It hovered over her shoulder wanting to rest it there to give some comfort but he stopped short, his hand wouldn't stop shaking. Miles quickly pulled it away not wanting to show the emotions he was struggling to contain. It was obvious the second he had entered the room what had happened._

_Miles called over the guard at the door. _

"_Did you let Sergeant Strausser into his room?" he asked his voice calm and composed. _

_The guard shook his head_

"_Well!, go and find me the man that did" he ordered, the pitch of voice rising slightly but still in control. Miles slowly stood up, left Rachel and left the room._

_It was some time later when Rachel heard muffled voices outside the room. Then there was a thump against the solid wood door, it was followed by a second and then a third. Then she heard Miles' booming voice_

'_What part of 'do not let anyone into this room' do you not understand?"_

_There was another thump and Rachel knew the guard was feeling the force of Miles' fist to the face, repeatedly. As twisted as it sounded that act of violence gave Rachel hope. Hope that 'her' Miles was indeed still there somewhere._

Miles had been passive towards her, he'd tortured her with words but she realised he had also protected her. Keeping her away from Philly for as long as he could while searching for Ben. In doing so he managed to hide her away from the likes of Strausser and others Monroe like to use to extract information from people.

Rachel kept that Hope with her, right up to the point that Miles upped and left Philly disappearing in the night for five whole years, leaving her alone to the mercy of Sebastian Monroe.

Bass watched Rachel while she seemed to recall unpleasant memories then he called her from her reverie

"I am right, aren't I?, you have forgiven Miles?" Bass asked again, this time she answered in a whisper

"It took a long time".

"Do you think you could ever forgive me?" he asked

"I don't know, maybe you could disappear for 5 years and then I'll let you know" she snarled.

Bass ignored the remark and turned to look out into the dark forest again. How could you forgive someone who kept you prisoner, kept you away from your family? There was much more going on between the two of them and while he tried to search his memories for clues, Charlie forced herself back into his mind.

How long had it been now?. How long before he went in after her?. God, he'd sent armies into worse situations than his. He'd sent kids younger than her out on missions, so why was panic ripping though his body. 'Just stop thinking about it' he chided.

It was then he heard a shuffle behind him and another familiar sound. He slowly turned to see Rachel wide-eyed and a knife in her hand. Bass stepped back, his hand on his own sword.

"Rachel?" he cautiously asked

She looked up at him from her kneeling position and Bass once again had no clue what was going on in her head.

"The capsule" she said as though that one word would make perfect sense to him.

Bass just looked on confused

She turned the knife around until the handle pointed towards Bass and then handed it over.

"The capsule in my leg could heal Miles" she said but Bass was still lost to what she was referring to.

Rachel clued Bass in to the nanotech that kept Danny alive whilst changing her position and sitting flat on the floor legs out in front. She braced herself against one of the sacks.

Bass crouched down in front of her, the knife at the ready then asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"So you want me to cut this thing out of your leg and put it in Miles' hand?"

Rachel nodded closing her eyes and tracing her fingers down past her knee feeling for the place to where Aaron inserted it.

Bass placed the cleaned blade over the point. The tip not quite puncturing her skin. This was a crazy idea and he still hadn't fully bought into it.

"You told me it was programmed to heal you. But you took an arrow to the shoulder not long back and it didn't repair that" Bass began then paused before adding

"Miles told me when you arrived in Willoughby you opened your wrists…it didn't heal that either".

Rachel looked away for a moment flinching at his knowledge of that low point in her life.

"It only works if you place it where the wound is. You don't stick a band-aid on you knee for a cut on your arm" She informed.

"It was programmed to stitch bone, mend tissue, fix skin. It _could_ work on his hand" Rachel added and Bass had no option but to trust her.

He pressed down on the knife and pierced her skin. Rachel grunted and gasped desperately trying to suppress the cries of pain she wanted to release. The last thing they needed was the patriots hearing distant screams carrying though over the wind.

The pain proved to be too much and as Bass dug deep to retrieve the capsule the sound of ringing increased in Rachel's ears and the colour slowly drained for her vision until she passed out.

Bass sat back, lifting the tiny cylinder aloft in his bloody fingers, watching it illuminate in the moon light

Rachel had instructed Bass that they must get it into Miles quickly. The nano-technology was charged by the body's own electricity. Too long outside the body and the nanites fall dormant.

But Bass sat there transfixed by the miniature canister. There was so much power in such a small container. It was the future. He held it like it was the 'one ring to rule them all'. Miles and Rachel both lay unconscious and Bass' face was the epitome of the psychotic General everyone thought had been executed.


	5. Chapter 5

It was that look on his face that flicked a switch in her brain.

The journey back from Willoughby had been hard, but she had made it with her Grandpa and knew it was largely due to Bass' help. He had taken the time to help her plan the rescue, told her what to look for and how to stay out of trouble and it had worked. He was the reason she had made it back quickly and safely.

Then as she stood, one foot on the doorway of the train-car looking at her Mom unconscious on the floor. Looking at Monroe with a knife and blood on his hands she realised just how monumentally stupid she'd been.

She had thought that his recent brush with death had given him a new outlook on life but that gaze in his eyes was of the man who had not so long ago pursued her family across country with helicopters and missiles. And Charlie had just left him alone with the two most important people in her life.

The next few moments were a blur. She had no idea how she managed to fly inside the car so fast when moments earlier every limb had felt like it was weighed down. In one swift motion Charlie had launched herself across the carriage straight at Monroe.

"WhatTheHellHaveYouDone?" Charlie screamed as she attacked him with her fists.

Bass was bowled over, Charlie's full weight flying at him from across the entrance. He attempted to grab her wrists while trying to dodge punches but her hair flew in every direction getting in his eyes while he wrestled with her.

Gene had stepped inside going straight to his daughter. He felt his heart almost stop at the thought she might be dead. He hadn't forgotten the feeling of watching his wife pass away, he couldn't take losing Rachel too. Gene went to check her pulse and the wound on her leg but before he had chance Rachel started to come around.

"Did it work?, Did it work?" she mumbled as her dad threw his arms around her holding tight with relief.

Bass had managed to secure Charlie on the ground. He pinned her down, straddling her waist. His hands pressing her wrists tightly but she continued to squirm, she continued to shout.

"Stop it Charlie!, just stop it!" he implored firmly, his face just inches from hers as he continued to try to stop her from wriggling.

She looked up at him, tears falling over her cheeks feeling utterly betrayed

"What did you do?" she asked again this time in a defeated tone.

Before he was able to give Charlie an answer, Rachel crawled across to him.

"Where is it , Bass?. Where's the capsule?" Bass jumped off Charlie realising that the tiny capsule of infinite possibilities had gone flying when she had attacked him.

"Mom!, what's…? Are you ok?… someone tell me what's happening here?" Charlie shouted watching the two scramble across the floor looking for the cylinder ignoring her questions.

Gene had moved over to Miles while the others darted around the area. He removed the bandage from his wounded hand and saw the mess underneath. Smashed bone and infected tissue had started to heal badly. That added to the blood poisoning made recovery look very bleak..

He looked down sighing deeply when something caught his attention. He picked up something with a faint glow from the floor studying it with his good eye. It looked like a…..capsule. He held it aloft and turned to the others.

"Is this what you are looking for?" he asked

Rachel grabbed at it, holding it like a precious stone.

"It's still working!" she called over to Bass who scrambled to her side. Rachel passed him back the knife.

"You've got to make a hole in his hand wide enough to push it in" she told him while cleaning the capsule with white spirit from Gene's bag.

Bass did as he was asked without question, setting to work on Miles' hand. Rachel joined him in an instant and thrust the capsule deep into the angry wound. She remembered Aaron doing the same thing to her and how much it had hurt. Miles hadn't even flinched just showing how grave his condition was.

All Gene and Charlie could do was watch, being witnesses to something that they had no understanding of. Then they all saw it. A miracle! The nanites were working and working fast. The amazing sight would have been a lot harder to comprehend hadn't they lived through the last few weeks with Dr Horn and Aaron's ability. Instead they just all sat in silence marvelling at the technology waiting for Miles to wake up.

But he didn't wake.

"Why hasn't it worked?" Rachel panicked and Bass sadly came up with the answer.

"It's not programmed to fight the infection" he said flatly, reflecting back to her earlier comments about how the capsule will only heal where it is placed and only what it had been programmed to do.

Rachel looked at her father begging for him to offer a solution but Gene was shaking his head, sorrow spread across his face.

"Blood transfusion, maybe, but it's a long shot. We'd need to know his blood type and I have poor equipment. It might be best just to say goodbye" he said

Bass gave the doc Miles' blood type then asked if there were any suitable donors in the room.

"Charlie. Charlie is O neg!" Rachel whispered feeling her fathers knowing stare.

Blood type was inherited from the parents and Gene knew Charlie hadn't inherited her blood type from Rachel.

Charlie stepped forward surprised she was a match. Her blood type had never really come up before in this post-power world and she suddenly felt nervous .

"Ok, what do I have to do?" Charlie asked trying to suppress her worries while moving towards her uncle.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Bass said holding Charlie back.

"The girl is dead on her feet, look at her, she's exhausted, I don't think this is such a great idea" he said

"Please don't fake concern, we all know your only here to get information on your son" Charlie spat pulling herself away from his hold.

She had gotten over seeing her mother unconscious on the floor moments earlier and thinking Monroe had killed her. But she hadn't forgotten that look he had on his face. It had scared her and reminded her that for all his useful attributes he was not to be trusted.

"Fine do whatever the hell you want" Bass replied his hands up in the air in frustration.

Gene set up the equipment as best he could, but it was far from being good enough.

"Rachel, you're going to have to help hold the needle on Miles in place, so get comfy" Gene said.

She moved behind Miles so that he sat between her legs. His back and head resting against her chest. Gene inserted the needle and Rachel held her hand around it keeping it steady.

"Your going to have to do the same for Charlie" Gene said to Bass who was standing by the entrance looking out into the night, considering doing a runner…..again.

What?" Bass questioned, then saw Gene losing his patience.

"Do you think we have all the time in the world here? Move! Now!"

Bass stepped over and mirrored Rachel's position until Charlie was nested between his legs. It was an incredibly awkward feeling between them. Her body was tense against him and he found he had no idea where to put his hands.

Gene began to hook up the needle in Charlie's arm and Bass felt bile rise to his throat for a moment, reliving that last time he had seen Dr Porter put a needle in an arm. He got a hold on himself and wrapped his rough fingers around her tiny bicep holding the needle in place.

It was taking a while and Charlie found she couldn't hold her self rigid for much longer and gradually relaxed into Bass' hold.

"You alright?" he whispered into her ear feeling the change in her posture.

She could feel his breath on her neck, the warmth of his body and strong beat of his heart radiating through her as she leaned into him. No! she wasn't alright. She needed a distraction and looked across at her mom

"So what's going on between you and Miles, mom?" she asked shocking Rachel with her question

"What do you mean?, nothing's going on" Rachel replied trying to avoid the sudden interested stare of Bass.

You'd have to have your eyes closed not to notice the closeness that had developed between the pair since being in Willoughby. Charlie could only assume that she was worried how she would react to it being her fathers brother she'd found friendship with.

"It's ok if there is something going on" Charlie added,.

"There's nothing going on, Charlie. We are just friends" Rachel answered

Bass chuckled.

"Come on Rachel, it's obvious something is going on, Miles follows you round that town like a lost puppy"

"Sisterly concern, that's all" Rachel curtly replied. This time both Bass and Charlie laughed. There was nothing sisterly in the way Miles looked at Rachel.

"You know I have never seen Miles chase after a woman before" Bass announced, and saw a sceptical look on both women's faces.

But he was telling the truth. It had generally been the women that had done the chasing and Miles had just sat back and let them come.

"He cared about Nora right?" Bass began knowing that Nora had been particularly important to him.

"So how many times did you see him go to her. How many times did you see _him _first kiss _her_?"

He watched Charlie and Rachel look at each other knowing that they couldn't bring any instances to mind. The time Nora was going to leave with her sister, she'd made the first move. Same with the time they escaped Philly in the coffins. It seemed that Bass may have had a point. Rachel looked over at her daughter and took a deep breath

"Ok, there may have been _one_ kiss" she began making out that it really wasn't a big deal.

"And… what happened?" Charlie inquired

"I ruined the moment" Rachel replied listening to smirks come from Bass, Charlie and even her father, indicating their lack of surprise.

"He caught me off guard, I'd been out cold for a couple of days, recovering from an arrow wound and woke to find my town suddenly filled with soldiers. It was very confusing" she replied trying to defend her actions.

The conversation was cut short by Gene announcing that the transfusion was done, he pulled out the needles. Then it was just a matter of wait and see.

Before Gene had a chance to warn her about getting up too quickly, Charlie had got to her feet freeing herself from Bass' hold, A second later she was hurtling back towards the floor, stars appearing in front of her eyes. Bass had expected it and dived forward to catch her.

Lifting her into his arms, Bass carried her the short distance to the other side of the carriage. Charlie's head thumped with a pressure headache. She pressed her forehead to his chest closing her eyes, suddenly inhaling that scent of him. That same smell that was ingrained in the shirt of his she still wore.

"Your only here for your son" Charlie said using the statement as a trigger phrase. A phrase that would clear her thoughts whenever she felt anything other than dislike for the man. Bass sat her on the floor handing her water and bread from the bag she had brought from the Porters house.

"I am only here for my son" he repeated back to her, finding the exact same use for the statement as Charlie had done.

A short time later everyone was asleep except Rachel. She couldn't settle her mind and her thoughts went back to that kiss. The one she'd told Charlie about.

_Miles had suddenly guided her to an alley gently pushing her against a wall. He didn't speak, just pressed his lips to her and kissed her. She instantly felt the effects hit her stomach, lower than her stomach. Rachel could feel the relief he was feeling in that kiss which quickly turned into need. She could feel him press closer, feeling his leg pushing to get between hers_.

_The mistake came when they stopped to take a breath. She had asked about the patriots and saw Miles look to the sky sarcastically thanking God for ruining the moment_.

Now she looked down at Miles laying still and couldn't let that be their last kiss. Rachel bent down and pressed her lips to his mouth and suddenly felt movement. She lifted her head to see him looking at her.

""Hey" Miles croaked barely making the word heard.

"Don't talk, just rest" Rachel said quietly unable to hold back the tears of relief. Miles nodded and closed his eyes again not having the energy to do anything else.

Rachel laid by his side and rested her head on his shoulder letting her hand rest on his chest feeling the strong heart beat echo through her body.

When she felt Miles' arm come round and hold her close she managed to finally let go and fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Bass watched the sun's reflection twinkle like glitter off the surface of the lake. The water was calm and he felt at peace. There was nothing that could bother him, except for that light thumping sound that he couldn't identify.

There it was again, that damn noise.

And again.

When something hit him Bass flew awake, hands on his weapon focusing on his surroundings. He was still sat in that damn train-car, daylight fast approaching and the serene lake back into the land of dreams. He picked up what had hit him and looked in the direction it came.

There across the other side of the carriage was Miles, sat upright looking directly at him.

"Did you just throw rat crap at me?" Bass asked his best friend with irritation but his eyes revealed how happy he was to see him alive.

"Are you supposed to be on guard duty?" Miles replied with equal annoyance but had that shy smile he always tried to hide. They were straight back to their love/hate relationship.

Bass quietly shuffled over to his friend noting that the other occupants were still asleep. Gene and Charlie had settled close together and Rachel's head rested on Miles' lap.

They spoke in whispers.

"How are you feeling?" Bass asked not in a touchy-feely way but more of a 'are you fit to walk 30 miles today' kind of a way.

Miles looked at his miraculously healed hand and the improvement to his arm.

"Pretty tired, but surprisingly alive" he replied, which loosely translated to _'How the Hell am I still alive_'. Bass shook his head at the events of the previous evening and at the power of the capsule.

"You'd better ask Rachel about that" he said, then filled Miles in on what he could explain about the days events. Miles' expression grew more serious as the story went on.

"We are _how _close to the school?, Hell Bass, It's a surprise we weren't all killed in our sleep" he whispered with exasperation.

"We didn't really have much option, Miles. Heaving your hefty ass over the undergrowth was not easy, plus you needed help. If we had carried on you would be dead" Bass argued back .

Miles was quiet for a moment his mind taking a dark turn wondering if they would have been all better off if he hadn't made it, but he was quickly brought out of it as he took in all that Bass had told him.

"And you let Charlie go back into Willoughby by herself?"

Bass just raised his eyebrows at that comment. Miles knew as well as he did just how capable his niece was in the field. Miles looked around at his family asleep in the carriage but something was missing.

"Where's Aaron, Bass?" Miles asked hesitantly fearing bad news. Bass rolled his eyes once again at everyone's interest in the guy. Then filled him in on how he had disappeared.

"We gotta go find him Bass" Miles' voice had grown a bit louder and the other occupants had started to stir.

"What we need to do is get far away from here Miles, he's dangerous".

"I agree he's dangerous, a thousand times more dangerous if the patriots get their hands on him. They'll look for a way to turn him into a weapon. They'll want to control the nanites, if that happens it's game over. No one can compete with that kind of power" Miles said.

Bass was transported back to holding that capsule in his hands thinking the exact same things. He looked away from his friend guiltily.

The conversation pretty much ended as Rachel woke up. There seemed to be a nervous embarrassment between Rachel and Miles and he wondered if something had happened back at the school.

Standing up Bass left them to it for a moment while he stepped outside taking in the early morning air. Cool and fresh. The mist from the day before still hung heavy all around and the sun hadn't yet risen enough to give the world colour. Leaving everything with a washed out hue.

Bass returned a few moments later to see Charlie wrapped around her Uncle, that perfect smile of hers beaming bright. There was an ease between the two of them that Bass hadn't felt with anyone in a very long time and he envied it.

He waited for their reunion to end then spoke.

"Fine, I'll go out and look for Aaron, but after that you need to start talking" Bass told Miles making it clear that he wanted to know some information about his son.

"I'm come with you. Someone needs to watch your back and we can find him faster with two" Charlie announced and didn't give anyone time to argue.

"You three get yourself ready to leave, there's food and clothes in the bags. As soon as we get back I think we need to move on" Charlie ordered looking over at her Mom, Grandpa and Uncle.

Then she took off the shirt she wore and handed it back to its owner. Bass pulled it over his arms, immediately regretting doing so as the feel of her body heat still lingered on the fabric and he found himself reciting the phrase 'I'm only here for my son' over and over in his head.

The mist was pretty thick and slowed down their search. Just outside the school the pair crouched over the body of a dead patriot. It was the fourth they had passed since leaving the carriage and each looked the same. The soldier had been stabbed repeatedly and it was a mess. It hadn't been done by someone with combat training. These men died slowly from an unskilled attempt on their lives.

As they squatted down wondering how the soldier had died a figure appeared through the mist. It was Aaron. He had blood on his shirt and looked shell-shocked. Charlie immediately stood up and stepped towards him.

"Aaron!" she called with relief in her voice but before she could get any further Bass grabbed her wrist stopping her getting closer.

"Hey buddy, how are you doing?" he asked Aaron nervously tightening his grip on Charlie.

"They're gone" he replied vacantly, looking over at Charlie.

"The fireflies are gone" he continued.

"They left when I needed them and I can't get them back" there was frustration in his words but the confession enabled Bass to relax the grip he had on Charlie, the danger at being fried alive gone for the time being.

Feeling safe to approach, Charlie moved towards her friend but he suddenly sidestepped her and out of the blue punched Bass hard in the face.

The unexpected force sent Bass almost to his knees but he managed to recover quickly, a brief glance over to Charlie asked '_Did that actually happen?' _but was swiftly replaced with a murderous look in his eyes.

He moved towards the hairy nerd overly confident he wouldn't be caught out like that again and prepared to put the man down, but Charlie ran in between them.

A flash of silver had caught her eye and she could see Aaron had a crude looking knife in his hand. Charlie threw herself against Bass pushing him backwards away from her friend, Bass pushed against her for a moment confused at her actions then he caught sight of the knife.

In what seemed like less than a second Bass had pushed Charlie behind him, twisted the knife from Aaron's hand and delivered a blow leaving him out cold on the ground.

He quickly turned to Charlie reaching out to her.

"Jesus, what the hell were you thinking Charlie?, he could have stabbed you" he said holding her by the arms.

"What would I have told your mom?, what would I have told Miles if something happened to you?" he almost screamed at her.

"I was just trying to get you away from the knife, that's all" she said a little shock at the anger coming off him

Bass was at a loss at his own feelings, his head dropped until his forehead touched hers, his eyes closed. He was sure she had just added 10 years to his life.

"I don't need anyone saving me, it doesn't matter about me" he said still feeling the force she used on his chest to push him away from Aaron

"But you…you are someone people can't live without" he opened his eyes and just stared at her for a moment. She was so important to Rachel and Miles and somewhere very deep down he didn't want to admit maybe he was starting to feel that way too.

Aaron started to stir and Bass pulled him to his feet

"Right let's get you back to the others and then we can move on" he said looking at his sorry state.

"I'm not going anywhere" Aaron replied and Bass considered punching him a second time.

"I'm not leaving until I've buried Cynthia and I will kill anyone who gets in my way" he coldly added.

"Ok, Ok we will help you" Charlie replied a cold shiver going down her spine as she suddenly put the pieces together and knew that Aaron had been responsible for those dead patriots. He was a different man. It had been a day, maybe two at the most since she'd last seen him and she already missed the light-hearted friend who had followed her across the country after her dad had died.

"He's not going anywhere near her. It's because of him and the others that she's dead" Aaron shouted maliciously towards Bass. Charlie put her arms out towards him trying to calm him down.

"Ok, I'll go and get Miles and my mom, they can come and help us" she said not quite understanding his anger towards Bass but assuming her plan to get help would be acceptable.

"None of them is touching Cynthia, it's because of all of them that she is dead"

He began mumbling, a tenuous link connecting Cynthia's death back to the Monroe Militia killing Ben and Rachel's relentless pursuit to avenge Danny. To Aaron, all that had led them to Willoughby and without that, he would never have met Cynthia.

"This is ridiculous, lets just knock him out again and we'll drag him back to the others" Bass said anger bubbling up at once again being blamed for something out of his control.

Charlie walked back over to Bass. In an attempt to calm him, she pulled his head down to her level.

"Hey, hey, look at me" she ordered

"Take a breath, and just think for a minute. You told Rachel just a few hours ago that you knew how it felt to have someone you care about taken from you. Well this is what Aaron is going through now, just give him some empathy."

Bass Monroe never did take well to being told what to do or how to feel and it took all he had to stay focused on those bright blue eyes of hers while he actually considered what she had said.

"I'll help you get Cynthia" Charlie called over to Aaron.

"And I'll dig the grave" Bass added suddenly seeing Aaron for the first time as a man suffering for the loss of his love and not as some useless piece of crap on the bottom of his shoe.

Aaron shook his head not wanting any help from the mass murderer.

"Your only other option is we leave her where she is and I drag you back to Miles" Bass said forcefully

Charlie took hold of Aaron by the hand and begged him

"Please, let's go and put her to rest Aaron, before it's too late"

Aaron slumped against her slightly a tear falling down his cheek, then they walked slowly, Bass a few steps behind, towards the school, ready to say goodbye to Cynthia and hopefully find something to dig a hole with.


	7. Chapter 7

The six of them marched North out of Texas. It had been two weeks since the incident at the school and feelings within the group hadn't improved. They walked in pairs. Specially arranged by Miles who had taken back the lead of their little unit.

Miles walked up front with Aaron. His bitter rhetoric was setting the others against him. Bass was close to shivving the guy and Rachel's mental health was nowhere near strong enough to handle Aaron's constant condemnation .

But Aaron's words had little effect on Miles, whose self-abhorrence outweighed any comments Aaron could dream up. Standing with him upfront lifted the damage he could do to the rest of the group.

There were times that even Miles seriously wanted to 'knock the guy out' but then he would see watery eyes hidden behind those glasses and was instantly reminded that Aaron was just a man grieving for his loved one.

The middle of the group paired Rachel with Gene. It gave the two time to slowly mend bridges of all that had happened back in Willoughby. But Miles had mainly matched them because neither could be partnered with Bass. There wasn't a person in the group who thought putting Bass with the guy who stuck him with a lethal injection was a good idea and he and Rachel still seemed incapable of exchanging a civil word.

That left Bass bringing up the rear with Charlie. Much to Miles' irritation. He was constantly trying to stop his mind running wild, wondering what was going on between those two.

He hoped all Bass saw in Charlie was their similarities. She had definitely gained some of the Matheson family traits. Any that she hadn't inherited from Ben, Miles had instilled in her during their time together over the last year.

She still questioned far too much and was fairly defiant but that just proved she had a large amount of Rachel in her too.

So Miles hoped that was all Bass saw in Charlie. Parts of a friendship that had broken down between the two of them over the years. The thought that Bass saw something other than friendship in his niece was something Miles wouldn't let his mind entertain.

For the moment he needed to keep them together. The route out of Texas had not been easy and the fact was, the two worked well as a team. While Miles concentrated on keeping the others from killing each other Bass worked with Charlie on her sword skills.

Her shot with a rifle was still pretty bad and wasn't likely to improve since they were out of bullets from a fire fight a few days earlier, but he was a good teacher and she actually listened to him. Right now it made the best sense to keep them together.

The plan was to head into what was once Oklahoma and then eastwards to old Tennessee. This was the last known location of Bass' son. The route out of Texas wasn't the most direct but it was the safest. Miles had promised his friend information on his son and the this was the best he was willing to do. If Miles revealed too much information he feared his friend would leave and he needed his help at the moment.

Miles' long term plan was to reach DC. Gene had told him that the Patriots had set up in the White House and that meant the top orders would come from there.

Those images, back at the tower of the missiles hitting Philly and Atlanta would forever be ingrained in this memory. He couldn't let those responsible fool people into believing they were the heroes. He was going to find out what they were up to and how to stop them.

The clouds above seem to be darkening as they walked on. The idea of sleeping in the rain was far from appealing so Miles shifted the route back towards civilisation hoping to find some kind of roof to lodge under.

The group followed their leader in relative silence. Charlie bringing up the rear noticed that her partner was quieter than usual.

"What's going on with you?" Charlie quietly asked him as they continued walking.

"Sick of being used" Bass replied referring to the minimal facts Miles had provided on his son. Information was being dangled like a carrot to get him to follow his friend blindly into what ever he had planned and it angered him.

Charlie was on the outside of her uncles and Bass' relationship. She had spent time with both of them over the last year. She was able to see past all the hurt that stood between them. Yes, Miles needed Bass help in whatever plan he had going on but Charlie knew he also just wanted his old friend back. He wanted the brotherhood they had but just didn't know how to or if he could get it back.

After looking at the hurt look in Bass' eyes she decided to reveal something that Miles probably wouldn't thank her for.

"That night in Willoughby when you were…." she refrained from adding the word 'executed' but he knew what she meant

"I was with Miles while he drank himself into oblivion. He was inconsolable Bass. He'd lost his best friend, his brother. The guy that always had a plan couldn't do anything to save you. I have never seen him like that before" she said

Bass laughed and shook his head. Showing Charlie that he didn't believe a word of it, but those famous puppy dog eyes of his showed her that whether or not he did believe her he at least wanted it to be true.

Up ahead Miles and Aaron had stopped abruptly. They had spotted a old farm-house up ahead. It looked empty, an overgrown porch with broken windows. All clues that it had been abandoned for some time. But something didn't feel right, Miles cast an eye over to Bass who confirmed the same hunch. He opened his mouth to order everyone to find cover when a shot rang out.

Something hit Miles by the ankle. He collapsed to the ground as the sharp pain hit but after a quick check it turned out the bullet had just scratched him. He gathered himself together as Bass crawled over to him and they quickly planned how to respond.

They ordered Charlie to stay and protect the others, then both men moved stealthily in opposite directions through the undergrowth. Ten minutes later they returned to the group having eliminating six particularly vicious bandits.

Once everyone was safely inside the farm-house Gene forced Miles through to a room to check on the wound. Rachel followed them into the back bedroom, her arms folded and a look of intense concentration while she waited for her fathers verdict. The last thing they needed was another infection.

Miles looked over at her and the worry she wore made him chuckle.

"Hey, Rachel it's just a scratch, relax!" he said but she barely acknowledged him choosing instead to bite her lip whilst waiting for the ok from her dad.

"Right, I've cleaned it up and it looks fine" Gene relayed as he packed stuff back into his bag and left the room.

Miles pushed himself off the dresser he'd been leaning against and stood upright feeling nothing more than an annoying sting. His eyes were fixed on Rachel. This was the first time they had been alone since the school. They hadn't had the opportunity to discuss what happened back there. His little death-bed confession had yet to be mentioned.

She had looked so worried just a moment ago, Miles couldn't help but play a little trick. He stepped forward, feigning pain and stumbled into her.

"Oh God Miles, Are you Ok?" Rachel panicked almost beside herself.

"I'm fine" Miles quickly mumbled into her collarbone. The trick had failed. It was supposed to get Rachel to lighten up but having her pressed against him felt too good.

Miles lifted his head a little higher until his eager lips met the warmth of her throat and further to her neck. Rachel's reaction was fast. Gone was the panic of a moment ago. Her hand threaded through his hair as she tipped her head to give him better access and whispered his name on a wave of dark desire.

Miles froze. The intensity of Rachel's reaction had taken him by surprise. This was not how things went between them. Generally as soon any intimate moment happened, guilt of some sort or another set in and everything was over before it started. This time something felt different. He quickly lifted her by the waist and carried her to the old dresser, sitting her on the edge, moving himself between her legs as he continued to kiss her neck and up to her jaw line.

"My dad could come back at any minute" Rachel breathed, sounding like a teenager sneaking around with the bad boy.

Miles stopped. That comment was more like the normal Rachel. A reason for not taking it any further. But she still had her hand gripped in his hair, her breathing still laboured from the feel of his mouth hot against her neckline.

"We had better make it fast then" Miles joked in response to her earlier comment. Then started to pull away knowing the moment to be over.

"No!" Rachel called out as she gripped at his shirt stopping him from backing away.

"I don't want to make it fast…..I want it slow, I want it to last" the words fell nervously from her lips and she felt unable to look him in the eye whilst she waited on his reaction.

Miles on the other hand couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. He wasn't completely sure that what he just heard wasn't his imagination, but her obvious vulnerability told him he needed to respond to her soon.

He lifted his hand to her cheek caressing it gently, feeling the woman who he'd never been able to get out of his system. Miles' heart thumped fast as he felt his own nerves threatening to overwhelm him as he spoke

"I can do slow, I can make it last" he whispered gently pressing his lips to hers.

The kiss turned more intense as he shifted Rachel closer to him, but true to his word he kept it slow, agonisingly slow. He could feel Rachel starting to fidget under him demanding more but he kept her wanting.

Her hands eventually found their way under the fabric of Miles' shirt and he felt the feel of nails run across his back. The act transported him back twenty years when the same sensation was new to him. For a moment the word slow seemed to lose all meaning. Miles shunted forward pressing tightly against her, lost to the moment.

It was then that the door to the room was thrown open and Charlie stepped inside already talking directly to Miles. She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes slowly registering what was happening in front of her.

"What do you want Charlie?" Miles shouted with equal amount of annoyance and embarrassment.

He had his back to her and was temporarily unable to move from his current position. Rachel's head was pressed against his chest, she was unable to look her daughter in the eyes and Miles could hear her whispering, 'Oh God' over and over into his shirt.

Charlie paled at the scene she was witnessing and stuttered in response to Miles question.

"I…I just wanted to talk to you" she said quietly, her eyes filling up. Then she turned and ran from the room.

Miles swore loudly into the air, making Rachel jump. He had noticed ever since the train-car that something was bothering Charlie, but he hadn't had the time to ask her about it. Now she had run from him probably straight to Bass. And he really didn't want her getting any closer to him.

He looked down at Rachel and at yet another ruined moment. He had to pull away. He couldn't let Charlie go like that. She was the one person he hadn't managed to completely disappoint and he desperately wanted it to stay had way.

He kissed Rachel lightly on the head, moved away from her and went in search of his niece.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you so much for the great comments. They have really helped me fill in some gaps in the story I was struggling with. Please keep it up.**

* * *

By the time Charlie's feet had stopped walking, the house was a small square in the distance. Smoke billowed from the chimney which meant Gene had managed to get a fire going and hopefully Aaron had collected water from the well around the other side. They would be able to wash with hot water which seemed like a dream to Charlie.

Her head was a jumble of images and thoughts. None of which were welcome. She had enough complications rolling around her head without the addition of seeing her Mom with…..Miles.

_Oh God, here come the images again. Stop thinking about it! _Didn't she say just a few weeks ago she was okay with the idea of the two of them forming a relationship. So why was she freaking out? Charlie wasn't a kid, she wasn't particularly dependant on her mother, so why was she so upset with her actions? It seemed that no matter how old you are, seeing your mom with someone other than your dad just didn't feel right.

The dark clouds above that had threatened rain all day chose to make good with their promise. The heavens opened with great force and Charlie was soaked through with cold rain within seconds. It was a welcome feeling, the water dampening down the mess in her brain that was close to frying.

Charlie's hands moved soaked strands of hair from her eyes. From the clearer view she saw a figure emerge from the orchard up ahead. The fierce rain limited visibility and Charlie advanced on the stranger, her knife pulled ready for action. If it was another bandit she needed to be quick and silent. The idea of running for help hadn't registered with her. Training took over and cleared her head of all other thoughts.

Once she was close enough, Charlie hid low behind a tree and saw that it wasn't a bandit but Bass. He looked exhausted leaning against a shovel wedged in the ground. Sweat mixed with rain covered his body. His breathing was heavy as he tried to rub dirt from his face only to smudge it into mud from the rain. He'd been burying the dead bandits. It seemed that Bass had gone from leader of a Republic to chief grave-digger. Although unlike Cynthia's carefully placed body, these bandits had been unceremoniously rolled into a shallow pit.

She wiped a drop of water from her eye and when she glanced back, he was gone. Charlie stood and looked into the emptiness where Bass had stood. Suddenly she felt his arms wrap around her from behind. His hold was tight, the type he used just before burying a sword in the back of an enemy.

"I don't like being spied on Charlie" he menacingly said.

She knew better than to creep up on Bass, very few managed to get the better of him. He was still smarting over Aaron getting that punch in when they found him by the school.

She tried to pull away but his strength was too much and all she could do was just wait for him to release her.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" he asked still with a hint of irritation in his voice as he let her go. Charlie turned round to face him putting some distance between them.

"Just walked in on my mom and Miles doing…..stuff" she said, the words sending a shiver down her spine.

Bass's eyebrows raised, and he released a snigger seeing her obvious disgust at the situation

"Really, Ugh! Must have been awful" he said trying but failing to stop from smiling and then laughing at her.

She was upset that he found it funny, but his reaction actually made her look at herself and how ridiculous it all was. That damn smile of his didn't help matters, it was contagious and before long she found herself laughing at her overreaction to the whole thing.

"It's a fairly crappy world Charlie. Most people just want to feel some comfort from time to time to make things a little easier to cope with. I wouldn't get too worked up about it" he advised then shook some rain from his hair.

His comment made sense. It had been a while since she had felt any 'comfort' and standing in front of Bass was not a good time to start thinking about that sort of thing. She needed to remember that Sebastian Monroe was the lion to her zoo keeper. They could work together, understand each other but she could never be off guard because at any moment the lion could revert back to its natural instincts and attack causing devastation.

"Are you coming back to the house now?" she asked. Bass shook his head.

"What are you going to do out here?"

Bass lifted his head and closed his eyes feeling the rain cascade over him.

"Don't know. Maybe try to wash away my sins" he answered forlornly

This was one of those moments Charlie needed to remember who he really was. She ignored that infectious smile and those sorrowful blue eyes and took hold of his arm pushing down the material wrapped around his wrist. There revealed the burn where his Monroe tattoo once was. She placed her own wrist next to it showing her Militia branding.

"It's going to take more than just a bit of rain" she informed.

"I know" He replied hopelessly then took hold of her wrist and swiped his thumb across the raised 'M' imprinted on her skin. His action sent a shock wave through her body and she quickly pulled away her wrist.

Charlie left him in the rain to his solitude and walked back to the house still being able to feel the presence of his thumb brushing over her skin.

* * *

Miles had looked all over for Charlie and couldn't find her. She was probably out there in the fields but the driving rain made it impossible to see which direction she had gone.

Cursing, he stepped back into the house only to the confronted by Gene.

"Why is my daughter on the verge of becoming catatonic again?" he asked angrily. Miles rolled his eyes. He swore it was less trouble leading an army into battle than dealing with the women in his life.

"Take it easy Gene, it's just a little hiccup and I'm sorting it out now" Luckily Charlie came up behind him at that moment, preventing Gene from forcing Miles into details of what had gone on.

Miles quickly grabbed a blanket that was laying over a chair, handed it to a soaking wet Charlie and walked her through to the front porch away from her Grandpa.

He looked nervously at her, not sure how to start the conversation but she spoke first.

"It's fine, I'm…ok with it, but I don't want to discuss it….ever!" she said honestly not sure how she felt but willing to accept what ever it was. Miles nodded with relief at escaping the awkward conversation of what was going on between him and Rachel.

She sat on the porch floor leaning against the wood of the house looking out at the rain, her legs were crossed and she wrapped the blanket tightly around her. Miles got down and sat by her side.

"So, you want to talk about the other thing that's bothering you?" he inquired

She was quiet for a long while. Yes, she did what to talk about the thing that she dreamed about every night, but wasn't sure how to explain it.

"I killed a man" she said after several minutes of staying silent.

It was a strange statement on its own. She had stood with Miles in battle and killed many over the last year. But from her tone Miles suspected that this one was different. The one you can't forget. They all had them. Both himself and Bass were haunted by certain deaths they had caused. His, for a long time were the guys that attacked Jeremy Baker. He would constantly wonder where life would have led if he hadn't made that decision.

But that had been eclipsed by another death. The one in the shed back in Willoughby. Miles burnt it to the ground but the image still remained. That death would be the one to unravel him. It would send him way beyond the 'Rachel world of crazy' if he let it but he constantly pushed those thoughts away.

This now was about Charlie, not him, she was the one that needed the help.

"When I rescued Grandpa, there was a soldier, I….I slit his throat. " she began, a lump forming in her throat as she tried to get the words out.

"It wasn't like the others. I had time to think about my actions, it wasn't reactionary. He looked about my age, surprised to see me there. I felt the warmth of his body as I pulled him against me, the fear in his breath and the beat of his heart as I stuck the knife in". She paused desperately trying to hold back the tears.

It broke his heart to see her cry, always had, even back in the beginning where she cried virtually all the time. But she hardly cried anymore, and it made him feel sick that he couldn't do anything to stop her feeling that way.

"It scared me how easy the kill was for me" she added managing to compose herself long enough to get the words out.

Miles knew what was rumbling around her head. Was she following that path that he and Bass had walked down? Believing her awful actions where for the right reasons. Would she get to the point when she didn't know what was wrong anymore? Like General Monroe or the Butcher of Baltimore. He remembered what Gene had once asked '_You've never done a bad thing for a good reason?' _

Miles couldn't offer any words that would help. He couldn't promise that she would stop being haunted by her decisions. He couldn't tell her it would all be alright, so he just put his arm around her and pulled her close.

How many times had he done that over the last year. When Maggie died. When the drones fell, When she left Willoughby . He didn't know if the hugs helped her any but they sure as hell helped him.

"I'll be here when you need me, kid" was all he could think to say and he felt her arms tighten around him.

Bass, approaching slowly from a distance could see the two of them. He once again witnessed the ease they had between them. That love and trust that he envied. He cast an eye slightly to the right and saw Rachel watching from a window. He could see in that moment that Rachel felt the same, envious of their relationship.

Charlie sat with Miles a while longer, feeling secure within his strong hold. They listened to the rain watching night fall over the fields. He passed over his hip flask and she took a couple of hearty swigs. Then a few more. It was good stuff that warmed and relaxed her on the inside but did nothing for the wet clothes that were fast becoming icy on her skin. She excused herself and walked into the house. Taking a bucket of water heated over the fire Charlie walked upstairs to the bathroom.

Placing the bucket on the floor she peeled her shirt over her head and opened the bathroom door to see that the room was already occupied.

She looked down to see Bass in the tub. Surrounded with muddy water he'd been scrubbing from his skin.

"Jesus Charlie! You're just opening all kinds of doors today aren't you" he said with self-conscious shock in his tone.

Charlie just stared as he splashed around trying to hide certain parts from view. All she could think was how strong Miles' hooch must had been, as it had released another wave of heat throughout her body.

"S…Sorry" was all she could say then eventually left the room.

* * *

Bass sat in the tub staring at the door. Charlie had just been there. Standing in just a bra and jeans. He could see the curve of her breast and that tight stomach. Those bright eyes just staring right at him. He threw water over his face trying to rid the images from his mind. He seriously needed to go back to calling her Charlotte. Little Charlotte Matheson was just some cute kid Miles was related to and not the incredibly sexy woman he'd spent the last few months fighting alongside and arguing with.

Bass exited the bathroom some time later fully dressed. He looked up to see her standing in the hallway. Charlie was dressed in dry clothes and looking purposely at him. He didn't get chance to make some smart ass remark about Aaron avoiding any compromising situations as she would surely walk in on him.

She just stepped forward and kissed him.

Bass was taken completely by surprise. Charlie had pulled on his shirt collar to help her balance as she rose up to meet his lips. Her taste was warm and gentle and a little innocent for such a strong-minded warrior. Bass had to fight the urge to take control, lift her into his arms and find the nearest empty room.

He stood fast, one hand gripping the bathroom door frame stopping it from finding its way around her waist, his other hand balled into a fist, his knuckles white from trying to keep it by his side.

There was a part of him that really wanted this but he knew no good could come from it. He could tell from the timidity of the kiss that she was unsure of her feelings, fighting attraction over the monster she knew him to be. So he tried his best to not to give her encouragement in something that she would probably regret. Which was difficult and as she pulled away he found himself leaning forward not wanting it to end and realising that he had in fact kissed her back.

He watched her stand back a few paces and look up at him, a look that said she felt like a fool for doing what she's just done after his lack of reaction.

He momentarily wondered if he'd made the wrong decision and he should just pull her close and kiss her showing her how it should be done, but he couldn't, it just wasn't right and she needed to stay away from him.

"I'm twice your age" he said. Charlie just looked at him like that fact meant nothing to her.

"Your Uncle is my best friend" again, she showed no reaction to the comment

"I'm a murderer" this time her gaze flickered, he knew she could never really forgive him for what happened to Danny. One more would surely break the spell. He looked at her with his cold steely eyes.

"As soon as I get more information on my son, I'm out of here"

That was the one, He saw the hurt in her face her she looked away down to the floor. Charlie hadn't said a word just nodded sadly letting him know she had finally got the message and then walked away from him.

Bass was left in the hallway feeling like he wanted to bang his head repeatedly against the wall but he heard a creek of floorboards behind him and he turned to see Miles standing there. .

"What the Hell was that!" Miles spat out

'_Just fantastic' _Bass thought seeing a murderous look in his friends eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Miles was able to lead an entire Militia simply because he was exceptionally incisive and he never panicked. Even in a crisis situation he stayed calm and managed to coordinate a plan of action.

Bass was a fairly intelligent guy but was ruled by his emotions. He was reactionary, generally choosing to act first and reason later.

But as detached and aloof as Miles was he was still just a man and on occasion his emotions got the better of him and he became much more like his best friend.

This was one of those moments. Being witness to Charlie and Bass kissing had made him see red and that usual voice in his head that said _'stop and think' _was no where to be found.

Outside the house would be better for the conversation they needed to have, and Miles led the way. The last thing either party needed was for Rachel to overhear and go all 'homicidal' on Bass' ass.

Miles started in on his friend even before the back door swung shut. The rain had stopped at last and they walked a little away from the house.

"You can't do this! You just can't, not with her, not with Charlie" Miles roared out into the cold night.

"Just calm down" Bass said then realised too late what a stupid thing to say as Miles punched him in the face.

"Nothing happened" Bass implored wiping a drop of blood from his lip and pushing Miles forcefully in the chest making him move back a little

"I saw you, I saw you kiss her Bass" Miles shouted

"Who kissed who?" both men turned to see Aaron stood by them with buckets of water from the well.

Neither answered choosing instead to ignore his presence and Aaron just presumed from Miles' reaction they were talking about Rachel.

"_She _kissed _me_, and if you hadn't been plying her with alcohol then it probably wouldn't have even happened" Bass barked remembering the feel of her lips on his own and the taste of liquor that went with it.

The fact that Bass was trying to put some blame on his friend infuriated Miles even more, but Miles did blame himself. He had been putting them together for weeks. Had he been allowing Bass to work his charm on his niece all that time?.

He couldn't stop a thousand memories fill his head of the nights they spent in bars picking up women. How rarely Bass went to bed alone. He remembered the lines he used, the charm he turned on and it made him sick to think he was using the same act on Charlie.

"I know you Bass, I know how you operate and I will not let you do this to Charlie"

Bass was getting a little annoyed with Miles' constant slur on his character. Especially considering Miles was drinking in the same bars, using lines and working his own charms to fill his empty bed. They were the same but Miles had seemed to forget about that.

"Jesus, Miles listen to yourself, you sound like her father" Bass yelled back, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"Yeah, well sometimes it feels like she's my kid" Miles shouted back realising just how true the statement was. He most definitely felt fatherly affection for her.

"Whoa, what?, Charlie kissed Monroe" Aaron blurted out slowly starting to understand what was going on.

Bass looked round at him slowly. He hated people using his name 'Monroe' as a substitute for the word Monster. He'd had just about enough of Aaron Pitman.

"This has nothing to do with you" he venomously spat out but Aaron wasn't for moving, he wasn't the fearful nerd he once was.

"I'm sick to death of your constant condemning. You don't know me, you don't know what I've been through in my life and you are also quick to forget what you have done. You killed those patriots with your own hands. You played a part in nuking my city" Bass put his hand up stopping Aaron from interrupting him. He knew what he was going to try and say

"You want to blame other people for what you have done, but we can all do that Aaron. We can all blame other people for our actions"

Miles moved forward, he could see the unforgiving look in his friends face and knew things weren't going to end well. He asserted his leadership and calmed them both down. In doing so Miles managed to get some of his own anger under control. He gave Bass the chance to tell him what had happened between him and Charlie.

"Charlie is looking for someone to connect with. We've all been on the road for a while now. Most of the time we are in hiding, haven't really had the chance to socialise with anyone. There aren't many people around here that she isn't related to. I think she just picked the best of what was available" Bass said and casually looked over at Aaron "No offence" he added with a smirk at the only other none relation in the group.

"So nothing else had gone on then?" Miles asked having already imagined a whole affair they were having behind everyone's backs

"No, nothing else has gone on Miles" Bass replied sadly

Miles seem to relax a little, the tension in his shoulders had eased and he let out a long breath. But Bass was far from relaxed, he was upset that Miles just immediately thought his only interest in Charlie was in using her for sex.

"What if it wasn't just attraction but that I actually cared about her?"

Miles stared at his friend, his eyebrows knitted together as he tried to understand what Bass was suggesting . Did his friend have real feelings for his niece? or was the comment just a ploy to make himself look less like a sleaze who just wanted to bed her?. The anger that had left Miles was slowly rising up again as he considered Bass' question.

Both men had seemingly forgotten that Aaron was standing there watching the scene like he was sitting down to his favourite soap opera.

"It would be worse Bass. So much worse if you actually cared about her" Miles answered

"How is that worse?" Bass asked puzzled by Miles reaction but could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't going to like the answer.

The reply formed in Miles' head. It was trying to push its way out of his mouth but Miles was holding back not wanting to say the words, but needing to at the same time. He held his tongue but Bass asked again '_How is that worse?" _Miles shook his head, looked down at the ground feeling betrayed by his own thoughts and then spoke them aloud.

"It's worse because, everyone you care about dies!"

Bass staggered back at the statement. Miles had done it again, stuck the knife in with just his words. How could he say something so hurtful? He had lost his whole family, he had lost Shelley and the baby, he had lost Emma. Miles had just thrown all that in his face.

Both men stood silently staring at each other, both desperately trying to hold back tears. Miles knew he had delivered the lowest of blows but the fact was, as much as he did care for his friend, Bass was still messed up and dangerous and he couldn't let Charlie get dragged into all that. He was scared for her.

"Well _you_ are not dead" Bass eventually stated after swallowing down his tears.

Miles knelt on the ground for a minute to try to compose himself. How could Bass still say he cares about him after what he just said?

Something seem to change in Aaron as he watched the two. He had got an insight to their past and could see how much they were hurting. He realised that they were just like him but with more losses and more mistakes.

Miles couldn't answer his friend. He was not dead, but he felt it. All he did was hurt the people around him and even when he tries to protect one person he loves, he ends up hurting another.

"Well, I can promise that nothing is going on between Charlie and me, but she's not a kid, Miles. Charlie can make her own decisions, she just wanted to get a bit of what you and Rachel have" Bass said watching Miles stand back up again

"You know I could never work out why you left Rachel in Philly when you tried to kill me. You got Nora out, got word to Jim and the others that they needed to leave, but you left Rachel, you left your own family" Bass needed to change the subject.

"He thought she was dead" Aaron answered for Miles thinking it was a well-known statement, but Miles did not take kindly to him opening his big mouth.

"Stop talking, stop talking now Aaron" Miles shouted and Bass gave a little smirk. Seeing the cold hard look in Miles' eyes

"I think it's time for you to go in the house now Aaron. If it's me trying to kill you then you could expect Miles to stop me, but if it's Miles trying to kill you then I ain't lifting a finger" he said and watched Aaron look to see that Miles was not to be reasoned with. He reluctantly picked up the buckets of water and walked into the house.

"You coming back in?" Miles asked Bass feeling exhausted from their conversation but Bass had just been grilled over Charlie and he now wanted some answers of his own. His mind was filtering back over the years trying to think why Miles could have thought Rachel was dead.

There was a time when she had tried to escape. Gone crazy one night in her secured room. She had smashed what little furniture she had and threw her full force at the door over and over until she knocked herself unconscious. Miles had been away for weeks overseeing a campaign and arrived back in Philly around the same time. Maybe he saw her, laying in the doctors quarters and assumed the worse. But surely when she had come round a little time after he would have seen she was alright. Unless…..

That was the night, the night Miles tried to kill him was the same night Rachel had tried to escape. He never got the chance to see her come round because by then he had fled the city. Bass looked over at Miles

"Those five years you spent in Chicago, all that time you thought I'd killed her?" Bass asked

Miles nodded "Yes I did think that. Or maybe Strausser or one of the others, She was so still and had cuts and bruises all over her. I completely lost control and came to find you".

So many things then fell into place for Bass. When Miles and Nora had come to rescue Danny the first words that Miles said to him after five years apart was regarding Rachel. '_You kept Rachel prisoner for how long?' _

Miles always made excuses regarding her. How she couldn't be subjected to the same interrogation techniques as everyone else because if she was hurt then Ben would never co-operate once they eventually found him. There were so many other instances where Rachel was foremost in Miles' actions that Bass was now able to put together.

"Why can't you admit to me that you had an affair with Rachel?" Bass asked firmly but Miles looked away even now wanting to deny the truth.

"We were brothers, you could tell me anything?" Bass added

"Like you told me about you and Emma" Miles responded, making it clear that sometimes everyone needed to have secrets, but he owed his friend something and what he was about to say was a one time deal.

"I love her Bass, I have loved her for as long as I can remember"

There was nothing left to say. After a while of standing in silence, both thinking about the women in their lives they went back inside looking for somewhere to sleep for the night.

Miles found Rachel asleep on a sofa in the living room. He sat on the sofa arm and looked down at her.

He studied the beautiful, broken, crazy woman sleeping peacefully. He had been responsible for her being that way. As General Matheson he had asked for Ben to help him get the power back on but she had come instead. He should have sent her right back to her family, but he was weak and selfish and wanted her close to him.

Now she was a mess because of him. He had presented Bass as a monster to everyone but he knew he was just the same. So how could he risk seeing Charlie suffer the same way her mom had.


	10. Chapter 10

They were out in the Plains Nation. Miles, Charlie and Bass crouched behind a fallen tree, the rest of the gang were hidden a little way behind.

"What do you reckon?" Miles asked his companions as they spied on two men a little up the road.

"Could be from a tribe, can't make out their tattoos from this distance" Bass replied.

"We've been here a while and can't see anyone else around, I think they are on their own" Charlie added

Miles hated being in the Plains Nation. On the plus side they didn't have to hide from being recognised by the Patriots. But they did have to watch out for Tribes and War Clans. The place was filled with the worst kind of men. No rules, No conduct and they were stuck in the middle of it.

"Ok, Charlie you go back and tell the others to come on from a distance. Me and Bass will go and check them out" Miles ordered

Bass watched as the little fearless fighter shuffled back towards the others, the kiss at the farmhouse once again flitting through his mind.

* * *

The morning after at the farm, had been awkward as hell. So much had happened. Charlie catching her Mom and Miles together, the kiss she shared with Bass, the hurtful showdown between Miles and Bass then lastly Miles actually admitting to another person his feelings for Rachel.

When Bass had woke that morning it felt like one of those hung-over moments when the events of the evening before slowly began to register and you find yourself saying _'Did I really do that'. _The worst of it was, that he'd been completely sober.

Bass had walked into the kitchen to find Miles looking over some map. He was deep in thought, following the lines on the chart. He took a sip of what was presumed to be coffee, held it in his mouth, considered spitting it out, then swallowed with a grimace. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Bass stood by the door way.

"Hey" he said and motioned to Bass to come over and study the map with him.

"I think if we can make it to this point then that is our best way into the Georgia Federation and into Tennessee" Miles said pointing out the route with his finger across the chart.

Bass nodded and smiled to himself. This was Miles' way of apologising for the things he had said the night before. Not the denotation of what was said, but the delivery. Bass knew Miles was right about him not being good for Charlie but it was the hurtful words Miles had used that he regretted. The discussion of Tennessee and finding Bass' son was _'a sorry'_ of sorts.

They spoke a little longer about the logistics for the route. Discussing the '_what if's _and the _how about's' _. Miles watched his friend take a sip of the coffee almost gagging as he had done. He laughed, something they hadn't done together for such a long time.

The door opened behind Bass and he could tell by Miles' expression that it was Charlie. Miles gave his friend a look, a non verbal communication that said 'put it right. may sure she knows nothing can happen between you two'.

Bass turned round to see her, leaning back a little against the counter giving her his sexiest smile.

"Morning Charlotte", he began his tone thick with flirtation

I'm taking a bath later if you want to come and stare at me again" he said .

Charlie stood horrified as he spoke. There was a second after entering the room the image of her mom wrapped around Miles filled her head but the vision vanished the second Bass had opened his mouth. Did he think it was a joke? Why was he saying that in front of Miles?

Bass caught her peek over at her Uncle and saw the annoyed glare he was directing at Charlie.

"Oh, Miles here knows everything, he's my best friend, no secrets between us you know" he replied. A dig at his friend's reluctance to tell him about his relationship with Rachel more than anything else.

Charlie turned scarlet with embarrassment and anger. He had humiliated her in front of Miles and she quickly left the room before sending her fists flying in his direction.

It was a short time later when Bass left the kitchen only to find Charlie waiting for him. She pushed him against the wall, her fighter spirit working overtime. She was angry.

"I get that you want to be above suspicion in front of Miles but I don't like being made to look like a stupid love struck little girl." she repeatedly pointing her finger in his face as she spoke

"We both know you kissed me back. I see the way you look at me, the way you look for ways to touch me. Don't go pretending it's all just me." she finished then stepped away from him, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

The cocky smile Bass' wore faded and Charlie saw him swallow hard. He looked down at her, speaking seriously for once.

"It doesn't matter what my feelings are. We are what we are. Nothing good can come from us acting on feelings. The reasons I gave you last night are still valid" he said referring back to how he reminded her that he was too old, a murderer and only around until they found his son.

She turned away from him giving a sad nod. Understanding that was the end of it.

* * *

All that at the farm seemed like forever ago. Bass and Miles were in the Plains Nation walking towards the two strangers, hands on their weapons just in case.

When Miles gave Charlie the order to go back to the others he had noticed Bass' gaze follow her until he could no longer see her. Miles had noticed he'd been doing it a lot. It quickly became apparent that the little speech Bass had made about '_what if he did actually care about Charlie' _wasn't hypothetical. Miles realised that Bass had strong feelings for her.

The reason he knew this was because Bass looked at Charlie the same way he'd been looking at Rachel for the last twenty years. Guilt ridden and filled with longing.

The two strangers up head on the road proved to be easy pickings and soon the gang were back together making their way to the Georgia Federation.

The trek across country was more relaxed since the farmhouse. Aaron had seemed to have taken a chill pill and stopped preaching about the terrible things they had all done. It seemed that his heart was slowly starting to heal and he was beginning to understand that the people around him were in fact trying to help him. He'd even managed to crack a few jokes, albeit sarcastic ones.

Miles loved the fact that he no longer had to guard Aaron. It meant he was free to walk with Rachel from time to time. They hadn't had opportunity to revisit their little 'get together' back at the farm-house, but that didn't matter to Miles. Just having her there by his side, knowing she was safe was more than enough for him.

It was turning out to be one of their better days on the road. The weather was holding good and the roads had been mainly trouble-free. They were covering good ground.

That all changed the minute they all heard a noise. A noise that made them all stop in their tracks. It was quiet and shouldn't have been noticeable against the sounds of nature surrounding them. But this particular little ping was anything but natural. A foreign sound in the post-blackout world. All except Gene had heard it before. .

They crowded in around Aaron who stood with his mouth agape having gone a little pale. He placed his hand inside his backpack and brought out the source of the sound.

"Is that…?" Bass let the question hanging.

"Oh God!" Charlie whispered

There in the palm of Aaron's open hand, glinting off the bright sun was a newly activated pendant.


	11. Final Chapter (11)

**This is the end of the story. I wanted to get it done before the show restarted. I have really enjoyed writing it but think I would lose my focus when the show restarts. **

**Thanks ever so much to everyone that has followed and commented. It has really helped. Hope you enjoy it. **

* * *

Miles looked around at the group of people. His heart sinking at the revelation of a working pendant. They had come a long way together since the Tower. Most of them still didn't like each other but they were a team with a plan to follow. This pendant could change all that.

Rachel would no doubt do anything in her will to stop another Tower-like incident happening. Aaron probably thought it was a way into getting the nanites back and Miles was far from convinced that Bass was strong enough to walk away from the lure of power.

All Miles saw when he looked at that ugly piece of metal was death. Why Aaron had hung on to it after the Tower was a mystery. His little army of family and friends was about to go from unified to divided as they pursued their own personal agenda's.

"Do you think there's another DOD base?" Charlie asked allowed

They all seemed to shrug, none of them having any clue what the pendant could mean.

Aaron jerked excitedly as he suddenly remembered something.

"Spring City…Spring City, Oklahoma" he said seeing everyone looking on clueless. None of them had heard of a place called Spring City.

"Back at the School, the nanites spoke to me. They kept mentioning Spring City Oklahoma, I wasn't really listening at the time. But we must be close. We are in Oklahoma aren't we?" he said.

Rachel held the pendant in her hands, studying it for a moment.

"Do you think it was the nanites who activated it, leading you to them?" she asked Aaron.

"Or it could be the Patriots. I remember Randall showing me how he could ping them to discover their location". Informed Bass.

Both theories were a lot to think about. They looked to Gene for some insight, hoping that he may have heard something within his work with the Patriots. But he was as baffled as everyone else.

The pendant went dark, all life disappeared but it's brief glow meant that the group had no choice. Even if they wanted to run off as far as they could in the opposite direction they couldn't. Just the possibility that the power could be in the hands of the Patriots was not acceptable and they would have to rely on Aaron to lead them towards the so-called Spring City.

They put the pendant back and began heading away from the Georgia border and moving further into Oklahoma.

After just another 10 miles with Aaron having no clue where he was heading they spotted something. A camp. After creeping nearer they saw that it was only a small camp with about 12 - 15 people in it. The bad news was that they were soldiers, Patriot soldiers.

Miles cursed loudly. The size of the patriot army was frightening.

"What do you want to do, take one prisoner and see what we can find out?" Bass asked his friend.

"Can't think of a better plan at the moment" Miles agreed and Charlie watched on as the two friends began doing what they do best.

Bass started to stand to put the plan in motion but he felt an arm pull him back down. Looking back he saw Gene clinging to him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he said in a less than friendly manner.

"Wait, I don't think these are normal soldiers" Gene said a little unsure of himself

He had studied the camp and he had noticed that they were all fairly young and very fit looking.

"I heard some people talk about a special army. Talk of abducting young fit men to retrain. Some have said they have been reprogrammed, brainwashed and come out like killing machines. Special ops robots, ruthless, killing everything that gets in their way. I think that these might be some of them, that's why there are so few, it's all they need" Gene said

Bass and Miles looked back into the camp and studied the figures. There were similarities between them. They all looked to be in their early 20's all fit and muscular. None of them were at ease. None of them were talking to each other. They were stood around with fire arms constantly in readiness for combat. They did indeed look like robots.

The plan was still the same they needed to capture one to see what information they would reveal about Spring City, it just might not be as easy as they hoped.

The sun was starting to go down which would make things easier. A figure emerged from one of the tents and starting walking a little towards them. Miles and Bass readied themselves when Miles stopped.

"Oh crap" he suddenly said causing Bass to look back over to the man slowly coming into range

"That's not who I think it is…..is it?" Bass asked and found his answer when Charlie arrived behind him trying to push past.

"Jason….Oh God it's Jason" she called a little too loudly and Miles had to pull her back down.

"What is he doing with the Patriots" she whined.

They hadn't seen Jason or Tom Neville since the Tower. She barely even remember seeing him inside, the shock of those bombs dropping was all she could recall. After that everything crashed, went dark and that was the last she saw of either Jason or her father.

"I think we have definitely found our person to interrogate" Miles said to Bass

"You stay here" Miles ordered Charlie firmly, motioning to Rachel and Gene to keep hold of her while they went to retrieve Jason.

Getting hold of Jason was easier said than done. He didn't stop fighting. It took Bass three attempts to knock him out, the guy just wouldn't go down. After retreating deep into the woods, Miles tied him to a tree and waited for him to come round.

The two former generals stood back checking on their wounds that Jason had inflicted. Both a little shaken by the skill and power the kid had. They needed him to wake up and start talking sooner rather than later. The others could come looking for him at any moment and the thought of going up against 15 others like that was not an enticing thought.

Rachel forced Miles to sit down while she checked a cut on his head. He didn't need it looked at but the feel of her fingers caressing his forehead was a welcome distraction. Bass wasn't so lucky he had Gene checking him over.

While the Doc washed blood away from a cut near his eye Bass looked around for Charlie and saw her sat in front of the unconscious Jason. She was staring at him, concern written across her face. He was aware that she had formed an attachment to the Neville kid and he could tell just by looking at her she still felt something for him.

"He's coming round" Charlie shouted to the others

Jason started pulling against the ropes, demanding to be let go, pulling hard enough to hurt himself

"Hey, Hey, just calm down, Jason. It's me Charlie" but he didn't calm down, just carried on pulling, his voice getting louder as he shouted to be let free.

Miles rushed over with Bass holding him still stopping him from hurting himself. He grabbed hold of the kids face making him look at him in the eye

"Stop it Jason, you're hurting yourself. Look at me, you know me, look at her, you know her" Miles said pointing at Charlie who had her hand over her mouth, her eyes watery looking at the boy so removed from the Jason she knew.

The kid stilled as he stared at the tearful girl in front of him. It looked through for a moment before the hint of recognition registered

"Charlie?" he whispered

Bass let go of the boy and walked away from them. He saw the way they looked at each other and he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. There was nothing going on between himself and Charlie and there never would be, but it was still hard to watch.

It was a while later when Miles found Bass sitting alone.

"You ok?" Miles asked his friend

"Yep" Bass replied

He heard talking behind him and watched as Jason and Charlie came to join the others. Charlie was smiling, not taking her eyes of the boy wonder.

"So what did you find out?" Bass asked

Miles told him how Tom had infiltrated the Patriots and was on route to DC. He was working himself to the top by any means necessary in true Tom fashion. Jason explained how his dad had rescued him from the reprogramming centre.

Jason was there in Oklahoma spying for his dad, getting information on spring City. He didn't have much to report yet as no one had managed to get inside.

So the plan was to get Aaron and Rachel to the entrance of the base and find a way in. Jason would go back to the camp and return a few hours later when it was dark with some guns.

Miles looked over at Bass and saw a crushed expression as he watched Charlie hug Jason goodbye, He couldn't seem to hide the hurt from his face.

Miles gathered the group all together and ran through the plan of action ready for when Jason returned in a few hours time. They ran through it multiple times covering as many eventualities as they could, afterwards Miles pulled Bass off to the side.

He handed him a piece of paper. Bass opened it and read the contents. It was a name and an address. It was the identity of Bass' son.

"He has a Militia branding on his arm, that'll help you know it's him" Miles said and Bass felt sick realising that his own son had been branded to fight for his Republic.

"That's why Emma contacted me, he'd been conscripted and she wanted to get him out, so I helped" he added

"Why are you giving me this information now?" Bass asked his friend, a little shocked that he finally had all the information he'd been waiting ages for.

"I promised I would help you find your son, but I can't right now, not with all this happening. I'm sorry Bass" Miles said

"I want you to stay, I need your help but finding you son is important to you and if you stay we could end up moving further away from Tennessee" Miles added

Bass studied the note, his finger tracing over the name of his son, his gaze then found its way over to Charlie sat with her mom and grandpa. Finding his son would mean leaving her. His heart hurt at just the thought of it, but what good was it doing sticking around torturing himself watching as she gets closer to the Neville kid. She had always known he was going to leave, so it wouldn't be a shock to her.

Miles followed his line of sight.

"If you stay, you're going to have to fight Bass. Your going to have to fight for _her_" he said causing Bass to focus back on his best friend.

What had Miles just said? Had he just given Bass his blessing to be with Charlie if he wanted to. It was a lot to take in. In his hand he held the promise of actual family, blood related. Something he hadn't had in a very long time.

Sat a little way in front of him was a family of sorts and a girl he'd pretty much fallen for. But Jason could make her happy. he wasn't twice her age with years of baggage to contend with. How could Bass get in the way of that.

* * *

While they all waited for Jason's return Charlie walked over and sat by her uncle who was taking his usual swig of Dutch courage from his flask.

"You ready?" she asked him

"Yep, just another Monday right?" they shared as smile at the old joke and he offered her his flask.

"Where's Bass?" she asked casually looking around for him having not seen him for a while

"He's gone" Miles replied taking another swig of liquor

"Gone where?" she said and Miles looked at her and saw those blue eyes fill with worry

"Gone to find his son" he watched her reaction. She was desperately trying to look indifferent to the news but couldn't manage to hold in the abandonment she felt. Miles turned her away from the others so they couldn't see her melt down.

"How could he do this now, we need him to help fight…I need him" she whispered the last part.

Miles hadn't realised until that moment just how deeply she felt for Bass. He had presumed the feeling was more one-sided. It was hard for him to accept their attachment to each other but Charlie seemed to have a special power.

Since Chicago Charlie had been Miles conscience, his little ray of light. She had helped redeem him from the calculating General he'd once been and she had also led him back to Rachel. Miles couldn't help but notice that bit by bit she'd been having the same effect on Bass. Maybe they would be better together. He would do everything he could to keep her safe and she would force him to think before acting.

Miles leaned forward and kissed his niece on the head "I'm so sorry kid"

There was no more time for dwelling as Jason had arrived carrying rifles which he handed to Miles, Charlie and the third that had been for Bass, to Gene. He took Rachel and Aaron with him and they disappeared into the darkness.

Miles, Charlie and Gene led down with Rifle's pointed listening and waiting for Jason to return.

They heard a couple of shots ring out into the night and Miles swore panicking that something could have happened to Rachel.

"Stay here and keep your position" Miles told Charlie and her Grandpa as he disappeared into the night in the same direction the other had gone.

Gene and Charlie waited for a long time in the dark, silence all around. Miles didn't return and neither did Jason.

"I'm going to go further in and see if I can see what's happening" she told her grandpa who tried to stop her but to no avail.

Charlie had managed to duck behind a crate of supplies when all hell broke out. Bullets flew from all directions and didn't stop. She heard shouts and screams but she was trapped behind the crates unable to go back or move forward. She fired back into the darkness and was soon out of bullets, still stranded. Charlie glanced round and thought she caught sight of her uncle darting between tents of the camp, but he couldn't get near her.

Out of nowhere a soldier appeared and smacked her across the face, she fell to the floor dazed, but recovered fast enough to kick him between the legs. Charlie only managed to half make contact and he quickly advanced again, she struggled against him throwing her fists and feet at every opportunity but he was much to strong for her. She closed her eyes having no strength left to fight with, feeling herself giving up when the heavy pressure suddenly disappeared. Charlie opened her eyes to see Bass. He lifted her into his arms and ran into the darkness, bullets flying past their heads.

Eventually Bass dropped to his knees unable to run any further with her his arms. She clung to him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He had seen Miles get Rachel and Aaron back to Gene but knew Miles couldn't reach Charlie from where he was. Bass had managed to come in from a different angle.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked trying to catch his breath.

"I prayed you come back, I prayed you be there. You always come back for me" she said

Bass couldn't help it as he looked at her there in his arms. He moved in to kiss her. A short kiss of relief that she was safe, but Charlie pulled him back to kiss him again. He felt those soft lips against his own, the ones he's felt once before at the farm-house, but this wasn't an innocent little peck she had offered before. The passion within it built as she pulled him closer to her. He felt himself getting lost within her, feeling just how much he wanted and needed her . He pulled away slightly to see that he had himself pressed against her flat on the ground.

"How the hell had that happened so fast" he thought to himself.

She looked up at him her arms still wrapped tightly around him

"Why did you come back?" she asked

Bass thought back to the words Miles had said to him just before he left. He smiled down at her moving hair from her eyes.

"I came back to fight Charlie, It's all I've ever been good at."


End file.
